The Guy From Starbucks
by bexmyxescape
Summary: Two girls watch as Troy and Gabriella patch up some holes at Starbucks. Troyella friendship. Oneshot. Rated T for mentions of slash.


**The Guy From Starbucks**

**Summary:**_ Two girls watch as Troy and Gabriella patch up some holes at Starbucks. Troyella friendship. Oneshot. Rated T for mentions of slash. _

**Author's Note: **Okay, so I know that I should be working on Lightning and Python, but I've wanted to post this since forever. Hope you like it!

**Disclaimer: **Alright, so I own the High School Musical CD, DVD, like a million posters, junior novel, and the pretty sweet "Got Milk?" Ad from my _Seventeen._ But, I do not own High School Musical or any of its affiliated characters.

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"Yeah, Kelly, he _is_ cute, but don't you think he's a bit…depressed?" Sarah asked her best friend who was sitting across from her at their normal table at Starbucks. They were talking about a boy who was just a few feet away from them in a booth, alone. He had sandy brown hair that cascaded over his piercing blue eyes, causing him to shake his head everyone once in a while.

"I guess…but still, he's _gorgeous._" Kelly smiled, as she took a sip of her black coffee.

Troy Bolton sighed, and continued to stir his latté with his plastic straw. He had heard the girls talking about him, but that wasn't what was bugging him. There were a whole bunch of things bothering him, he had decided, but one was bigger than the others.

"Kelly, don't get totally hooked, he probably already has a girlfriend." Sarah reminded her friend. _If only you knew_, Troy thought. If as on cue, a petite girl with long brown curls entered the Starbucks, she slowly approached the booth where Troy was sitting, and slid across from him. "Told you." Sarah smirked, as Kelly hunched in her seat. "Come on, let's go outside." The two girls left.

"Hey, freaky callback boy." She said quietly.

"Hey, freaky math girl." He didn't look up from stirring. The girl placed a gentle hand over his, to stop him. He looked up.

"Talk to me, Bolton, this is really starting to worry me." She said in a rush. When she got no response she tried again, "I'm going to get Sharpay, and she's bringing her stilettos."

He grinned at this, "Stilettos? Aren't those the eight-inch heels she has?" The girl laughed.

"Come on, Troy, don't exaggerate, they're only seven and a half." She smiled, "But seriously, have you told anyone else? Chad? Taylor? Anyone?" He shook his head, "Troy, you're going to have to tell them sometime…do you have _any_ thought to when you want to tell them?"

"The day before I die." Troy said bluntly.

"If you don't tell them and get treatment that day could be coming sooner than you think." The girl was dead serious.

"Gabriella, you don't understand…everyone is going to hate me." Troy hung his head.

"Oh, no, honey, no one is going to hate you. You told me, and I don't hate you." Gabriella explained softly.

"But, Gabs, you're my best friend, you know me the best, other people…" he trailed off.

Gabriella sighed, "You remember last year when we tried out for the musical, and your dad thought it was just some stupid phase?" Troy nodded. "Then on closing night, you stood up there and he told you how proud he was of you?"

"I don't mean to interrupt, Gabi, how is this supposed to help?" Troy asked quickly.

"Okay, so my point is that none of us are perfect. We all do things that people may not like, but they get over it." She paused, waiting for Troy's smile, but none came, "Well, when you tell your dad, I'll be right beside you, and if he goes berserk, you know that you always have a place at my house."

"Thanks, but I'm just not ready." He looked up, his face set in stone.

Gabriella got frustrated, "Troy, do you know how many kids die in Africa because of AIDS everyday because they just can't get treatment? You have that opportunity, and you're just throwing it away!" She didn't realize that her voice rose, and that she had attracted some people's attention.

"Thanks, Gabs, for shouting that out to the world." He said sarcastically before climbing out of the booth, and storming out of the shop. Gabriella quickly followed him.

Meanwhile, Sarah and Kelly were both talking outside in the hot Albuquerque sun. Sarah didn't feel like finishing her latté, so she decided to throw it away. While she was walking towards the trashcan, Troy came out and accidentally bumped into her. In one quick moment the lid popped off, and the dark brown liquid sprayed all over Troy's white shoes.

"Damn it, I am so sorry." Sarah went on her knees.

"No, don't worry about it, it was my fault anyway." Troy said, Sarah chose that moment to look up, and found she was looking in the eyes of the guy that she had been talking about just a few seconds before.

"It's you." She whispered.

"The guy you were talking about, yeah, it's me." Troy grinned, and Sarah turned four shades of red.

"Um, sorry about that." She said quietly.

"Troy, please, don't…can we talk about this?" A voice said from behind them, and Sarah recognized the girl that had sat down next to him. _His girlfriend_, she thought.

Troy spun around, "So you can do what? Tell the world that I'm gay, too?" _Okay, strike that_, Sarah raised her eyebrows.

"Look, it just slipped out, I was frustrated…I'm worried, Troy." She yelled.

"Stop saying that! Just stop, okay? Stop worrying about me; stop telling me what I need to do, because I don't need your help." He yelled back.

"But it's not going to stop me from trying. Weren't you the one who just told me that I am your best friend, the one that knows you the best?" She asked him, her voice softening a bit, "And I know that best friends don't give up on each other. So, like it or not, Troy Bolton, I'm not giving up on you."

"I'll tell them." Troy said quickly.

"Wh-what?" Gabriella stuttered, not sure if she had heard him right.

"You heard me…and I'll start with my dad…you still have that really cool futon in the guest room right?" He asked.

"You know it." She said with a smile.

"Good." Troy said simply, and then wrapped his arms around his best friend. She instantly hugged back, and they shared a true friend moment. "Thanks for bugging the hell out of me, freaky math girl." He joked once they pulled apart.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment…so no problem, freaky callback boy." Gabriella grinned.

Sarah and Kelly watched as the boy and the girl walked hand in hand down the street.

"I'm glad they got to work everything out." Kelly stated.

"Yeah," Sarah nodded her head, "me, too."

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**Author's Note: **Okay, so I wrote this based off of the song "One" by U2. We did a program on it one day in Youth and learned that it's actually about a guy that's gay, gets AIDS, and tells his father. His father gets mad and pretty much disowns him. I really recommend that you listen to the song/watch the video if you haven't already.

So, in this story Troy is like that guy. He's worried about what his dad will do if he tells him that he's gay and that he has AIDS. I wrote it as a Troyella Friendship, just to show that Gabriella is always there for him.

If you have any questions you can PM me.

Please Review!


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